Chapter Nine

Kept

With a little effort, Sam opened her eyes and found that the world swam in front of her. Her head throbbed! It was a constant, all-encompassing headache that made her every movement hurt. Blinking several times, she was able to finally focus her eyes but was completely disoriented in her surroundings. Overhead, a fluorescent light flickered, alternating between full and partial illumination, but even looking at the flickering light hurt. With an audible moan, Sam sat up and looked around.

Wha’—wha’ happened? Where…am I?

She looked about, trying to piece together both where she was and what had happened.

Lights overhead. Some sort of metal fence. Hmmm, I guess I’m at…at…what was it called?

It hurt to think, so coming up with the name of the store was hard for her. After several seconds of struggle, Sam finally gave in.

It’s gotta be that store…whatever its name was. Nowhere else has power. Now…how did I get here?

Looking around, she examined the fence. It was a floor to ceiling mesh that surrounded her on all four sides and by all indications appeared very solid. Glancing down, she saw that she had awoken on a cot, but other than that there was nothing else in the enclosure. Nothing, that is, but her.

Sam swung her legs over the edge of the cot and waited a second for the pain in her head to somewhat subside.

Oh, that hurts! I gotta push through the pain.

After several minutes, the pain abated enough to allow clearer thought.

This is a cage. Damn, they put me in a cage! They musta caught me and put me in here. They…ah, hell…it don’t matter! Think Sam, think! How do I get outta here?

She got to her feet and first inspected herself and then the cage. As to her, other than a large bump on the side of her head, she was okay. Of course, all of her weapons, from her guns to Cal’s knife, had been taken. As to the cage, it was small, maybe ten feet square, with a chain link gate on one side that was secured by a heavy, metal chain and lock. Shaking the gate and fence assured her they were both solid, plus metal pipe cross members on both the floor and at the ceiling would prevent prying back the mesh far enough to either slip under or over.

They got me locked in good…like some animal.

On the other side of the fence, Sam thought she recognized one of the rooms of The Club.

I think Brandon brought me through here. This is one of their storage areas, I think.

Sitting at a table near the cage were two men playing cards, both oblivious that she was awake. Sam scanned the rest of the surroundings outside the cage—crates, boxes, and another table with chairs, all vacant. Looking to her left were more cages, just like the one she was in. Of course, she wouldn’t have known that the original purpose of these cages was for the storage of high value merchandise such as lap top computers, Blu-ray DVD players, and smart phones. Emptied of this anachronistic merchandise, the fenced cages made more than adequate security cells.

“Hey, guys. I’m hungry!” A voice spoke from the left that was familiar to Sam, but with her pounding headache it took several moments before she recognized it.

Ally. It’s Ally! Shoot, they locked her up, too!

“Yeah, I got something for you.” Both man laughed at the far from subtle sexual reference.

“C’mon, guys. I ain’t kidding. I’m hungry!” Ally’s voice pleaded with the men, but they had no sympathy.

“Look, sweet cheeks. You can just chill there until Priestly and the others get back. So, shut the hell up!”

Sam listened to the interaction but did not speak up. Her gut told her it was best not to reveal that she was awake.

Hmmm, does that mean this place is empty? Wonder where they all went? Maybe down to that place Brandon told me about. What about Brandon? Where’s he?

“Pleeease,” Ally pleaded. “At least go get me some Pop-Tarts…or something.”

“Fine, just shut your pie-hole.” One of the men got up and wandered out of sight. A few minutes later, he returned with a box of Pop-Tarts and a bottle of Tequila.

“Lookee, lookee what I got,” he said as he sat again at the table. “The breakfast of champions—Frosted Pop-Tarts and Jose Cuervo Gold!”

“Man, you’re asking for it,” the other man replied. “You know the rules. Priestly will have kittens if he finds out we let the girl out without his approval.”

“What he don’t know…won’t hurt him. Besides, if we’re here to babysit the bitches, we might as well enjoy ourselves.”

“Hey…what about me?” Ally asked. “Don’t I get some of those Pop-Tarts?”

The Tequila-man stood and walked over toward the cages. Upon his approach, Sam returned to her cot and pretended to still be asleep. As such, she was ignored by the man. Instead, he went straight to Ally’s cage.

“Hey, sweet cheeks. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll let you have a couple of these Pop-Tarts only if you drink shots with us.”

Don’t do it, Sam thought. She prayed Ally would say no.

Unfortunately, Ally’s answer went the other direction. “Um…okay.”

With a smile on his face, the man unlocked the cage, letting Ally join him and the other man at the table. She wolfed down two Pop-Tarts in quick order as the men watched, both with large smiles filling their bloated faces. With the junk food consumed, the man retrieved three shot glasses and poured the tequila.

“There you go, honey. Give that a try.”

Ally took the glass, tipped it toward her mouth, and took a tentative sip. Explosive gagging and coughing followed, much to the men’s amusement.

“Well, honey. You just got to keep trying. Learn to enjoy the taste.” Ally nodded as she took the glass again and sipped the liquid until she finally finished the shot. “All right! That’s the way. Ya see, it’s not so bad.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she answered tentatively.

Both men downed their shots and then refilled the shot glasses. So it went with five more shots poured and consumed. With each shot, Ally became both more used to the drink as well as quickly inebriated. Not unexpectedly, with each drink, Ally’s senses, including her common sense, dulled. She quickly descended into a giggling adolescent caught experimenting in her parents’ alcohol cabinet.

From her cage, Sam watched feeling totally helpless. She couldn’t get out of the cage, but she also couldn’t sit by and let Ally get hurt. Though she had never had alcohol, she knew what it was. More importantly, she knew its dangers from her father’s descriptions. For now, all she could do was listen and watch through narrowly slitted eyes as she pretended to still be unconscious.

“One more round. Here we go.”

“I don’t think I can drink anymore,” Ally said through slurred speech. As if to punctuate her point, as she spoke, she fell off her chair and landed on her rear amidst a torrent of giggles. Both men laughed at her plight until one—a somewhat older man with graying blonde hair—reached out a hand and pulled her back to her feet.

“There ya go, honey.”

“I can’t even stand up,” she said while visibly wobbling.

“Well, then. Come here. Have a seat,” he said while this time pulling her onto his lap.

“You’re lap is bony. Not too comfort…comfort…ah, you know.”

“Ah, but it comes with back rubs,” he said with a wink to his buddy. He began rubbing Ally’s shoulders while the other man poured another round of tequila. “Now, doesn’t that feel good, sweet thing?”

“Mmmm, yeah it does. Can I have some more. Pop…Pop…That’s a weird sound isn’t it? Pop.”

Both men roared with laughter, which only made Ally giggle more. While she nibbled on the Pop-Tart, another round of tequila was poured.

“This stuff is making me sweat. My hair was already a mess, and now it’s gotten all sticky.”

“If you’re hot, then you need to cool down before you get overheated. Why don’t you take off that sweater? Get more comfortable.”

“I’m so sure. Take off my sweater and sit her in my bra and all. I can’t do that.”

Another round was poured and consumed, and then the men pressured her, again. “Now, you got sweat dripping down your neck. Look at that.” He stroked her hair down the nape of her neck and onto her back. “You’re gonna get hot…too hot, I’m tellin’ ya.”

“Oh…all right. Both you guys got to promise to keep your eyes closed. Okay?”

The men agreed, and with that, Ally stood and stripped off her sweater, leaving only her bra and shorts remaining. She sat back down on the larger man’s lap, and he continued his back rub.

“Doesn’t that feel good? Just close your eyes. Leave it to ‘ol Steve-o to relax you.” Of course, neither man kept their eyes closed. Instead, the men’s eyes fixed on Ally’s ample cleavage while they both silently considered their next move. Their collective goal was easy to predict.

We’ll give her a few more drinks, the men both thought. That should get her bra off. Then, a few more after that should get the rest of her clothes off. After that, she’ll want it. In fact, to everyone it’ll be clearly consensual.

In a world with few women, the fact that this girl was only thirteen didn’t matter to these men. Plus, at The Club, they were their own police, so it was unlikely that anyone would object.

In fact, they thought, it’ll fit in nicely with Priestly’s new plan.

The man continued to rub her shoulders and then stroke her hair down its length, letting his hands go further and further down her back. In Ally’s very inebriated state, she was barely aware of the location of his hands. Just that it felt good.

From Sam’s cage, she noticed that it had gotten very quiet. This prompted her to get back on her feet and peer over to where Ally was sitting.

Ah, damn, she thought. She sho’ don’t need to be sittin’ on that fellow’s lap. Let alone with practically nuthin’ on. C’mon, Ally. You just tell ‘em ta back off!

Unfortunately, Ally’s need to grow up before her time coupled with the dangerous combination of alcohol and attention dampened her senses. It was clearly making her take risks that normally she would have avoided. Recognizing that the girl’s judgment was impaired, the men preyed upon her weaknesses and played to her ego.

“Ya know, everyone tells you that you’re pretty, but you know what? They’re wrong.”

“What? You don’t think I’m pretty?”

“You’re not pretty. You’re truly a beauty.”

“Ah…that’s so sweet! Thank you!”

“More importantly…you’re smart.”

“I know. I’m always tellin’ Brandon that I’m smart, but he doesn’t think so.”

“Well, you are. You’re special. That kid’s an idiot, not you. You are sweet and smart. More importantly, you’re loving. You take care of your friends, don’t ya? We’re your friends, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied with her eyes still closed as she enjoyed the back rub, even though the man’s hands had moved beyond just rubbing her back.

The men’s descriptive platitudes continued, piling on one after the other, and all said to build up her ego. As they complimented her, they continued to ply her with alcohol.

Time for the end game, they both thought.

“Here ya go!” The man said as he handed her the glass. “Time for another drink.”

“Uh-uh. I think I better stop.” She tried to get up, but the man pulled her back onto his lap. “C’mon guys, I think…I should…stop…drinking. I’m already pretty wasted.”

“Nah. C’mon. Don’t end the party. We’re just getting started. I think you should get more comfortable.” By no coincidence, the man’s back rub now focused entirely around her mid-back and her bra clasp. Losing patience, he pulled at the clasp, trying to unhook it.

“What? Huh? No way! Don’t be doin’ that! I gotta go.” Ally stood again and tried to put her blouse back on. As she did, the slightly built other man pulled her onto his lap and immediately started grabbing at her—her cleavage, toward her shorts, etc.

“No, no! Stop! C’mon, I said stop. Stop!” Ally struggled to get off his lap, even as the man continued to paw at her. Even though he was a slightly built man, his strength easily overpowered her efforts to stand, and with a tug, he returned her back to his lap. Not given to surrender, Ally kept fighting. With every wiggle to get free, the man kept tugging at her shorts, trying to pull them down. She screamed as she continued her struggle, but it was clear that she was slowly losing the fight and would soon be naked.

* * * *

Sam had seen and heard enough. She certainly wasn’t going to wait for this to get any worse than it already had. Though, as she was still locked in her cage, any intervention would require creativity.

“Hey!” Sam hollered. “Hey, you two fellers. Can I get out of here?”

Ally tried to yell in response, but the small man cupped a hand over her mouth, silencing further complaint.

“Whoa, look who’s finally awake?” the large man asked.

“C’mon. Let me out. Pul-leaaase? I wanna stretch my legs. Can I at least come over there with you?” It disgusted her to even talk to these men, but she had to. Most importantly, it accomplished what she wanted. The men were distracted.

“What do you say, Artie?” the large man asked. “Should we let the cowgirl join the party?”

Artie, the smaller man, was unconvinced. “I don’t know, Steve. Priestly said we had to keep that one locked up until he returned.”

“C’mon, guys,” Sam again pleaded. “Let me out. I’m just a sweet and innocent li’l ‘ol girl. Well, maybe I ain’t that innocent, but I am sweet. So…what do ya say? Please?”

The larger man’s alcohol-addled mind did the math—two guys, two girls. It required nothing more than that for him to decide. He walked to Sam’s cage and unchained the door.

“Hey, there. Come on out, but you gotta behave yourself. Okay?”

Sam nodded, and he let her exit the cage, led her to the table, and offered her a drink. As she sat, Ally struggled free and went to Sam’s side.

“Hey there, little one,” Sam asked. “You doin’ okay?” Ally nodded amidst tears.

Now what? Sam thought to herself. Now that you’re out here, what do you do next? First things first. Gotta get their trust. So…I gotta drink. She took the offered shot glass and downed the liquid…without coughing or gagging! Not because she was experienced in drinking. Rather, she was just determined to get control of the situation. If that required drinking, then she’d drink. Of course, that didn’t mean she liked it.

This stuff is terrible!

“Hey, hey! We got a drinker here.” Another shot was poured. This time, she declined as she arrived at a plan.

“What? C’mon. Don’t you want to have a good time?”

“I don’t need no liquor to have a good time. Besides, there are things more fun than drinkin’, don’t cha’ think?” She gestured with her eyes toward Ally. “For that, you don’t want a child. You’ll want someone older. A woman, like me. So…what do ya think?”

The combination of alcohol and their pent-up desire for sex was all the motivation they needed. “Well, all right! We got us a party. Artie, you get the little one, and I’ll take the cowgirl.”

Damn, I don’t want them including Ally in their plans. Think, Sam ! Ugh, I got no choice.

“Nah, leave her be. Like I said, you need a woman…not a child. You know, woman enough for two men. So…how ‘bout we go someplace?”

The smaller man frowned, as after an hour of plying Ally with alcohol, he had been looking forward to seeing her naked. Then again, a sure thing was preferable to a struggle. Even so, he still wasn’t motivated to leave, and his face showed it.

Sam saw the man’s frown and decided to use it her advantage. “Why don’t I start with you.” She extended her hand to the man. “Ya got someplace we can go and be alone?”

“Um, sure. I guess we could use Priestly’s room.”

“Sounds good! Let’s get going.” As she spoke, Sam tried to give him seductive look, though she wasn’t quite sure what one would really look like.

“Go get her, Artie, but leave some for me,” the larger man said with a laugh as they walked away. They were an odd pair. Sam towered over the smaller man by at least four inches, but that didn’t matter to the man. He didn’t want her for her height.

As they walked away, Sam couldn’t help but smile at the absurdity of her actions. After all, she was a virgin with no experience at all.

What these fellers don’t know…Well, they’re in for a real surprise!

The small man led Sam down a corridor to a room that still said “Manager’s Office”, harkening back to its use before the zombie outbreak. Inside the room, a queen-sized bed replaced most of what had once been office space. The room was cluttered with casually discarded dirty clothes and next to the bed were piles of books and old magazines. Completing the room’s random debris were several empty wine bottles resting on top of the book piles. Overall, the fellow that occupied this room was a slob.

“All right, girlie. Here we’ve got all the privacy we need. So, why don’t you take off your clothes and show me what you’ve got?”

“Shush. Don’t talk. Ya just close yer eyes, and I’ll do the rest.” She sat the man down on the bed. “Now, close ‘em.” She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. That simple act was all she needed to do. The man closed his eyes and became completely submissive, awaiting the sweet embrace of lovemaking. Unfortunately for him, what his mind envisioned was far from reality. While his eyes were closed, Sam grabbed an empty bottle and swung it at the man, clobbering him on his head. He collapsed on the bed as he slid into unconsciousness.

Sam checked the man. Finding his breath assured her that she hadn’t killed him. While he may deserve it, particularly for what he planned to do to Ally, she couldn’t bring herself to take the man’s life in such a cold-blooded fashion. Satisfied he was alive, Sam pulled a cord out of a table lamp and quickly tied the man’s hands behind his back. With him secured, Sam left the room to go find Ally.

Retracing her steps, she peered around the last corner into the area where only minutes before she had left Ally and the large man. Unfortunately, the table and chairs were vacant.

Oh, no! Oh, no! This ain’t good! Where’d they go? Where’s Ally?

Sam shifted to her quietest, most stealthy approach and entered the room. She needed the advantage of surprise to prevail, but first, she had to find them.

Sam rounded the hallway’s corner and hugged the wall, creeping as quietly as she could. Her eyes were constantly in motion, searching for any clues on Ally. Meanwhile, her ears strained to listen for some sound, any sound, that might indicate their location. Unfortunately, she heard or saw nothing. She approached the table and chairs, but she already knew they weren’t there. Moving past the table, she peered around some large boxes, but again found nothing.

Where are they?

Just ahead were the cages, including the one she had been confined within just a short while ago. Hugging the wall, she approached the first cage, and that’s when she heard a muffled whimper. Moving quicker, she looked into the first cage, but it was empty. She moved to the second cage, and then quickly rounded the corner. It was empty as well.

Another whimper sound, but between the building’s concrete exterior walls and plaster interior walls, sounds seemed to echo from every direction. She stopped and turned her head to listen. It came from the other side of the room, maybe from a door that stood partially open. Sam turned away from the cages and walked toward the door, or at least began to when a muffled ‘no’ made her stop. The sound came from the last cage—the one that stood by itself.

Moving double-time, Sam approached the cell and looked in. It was dark, but she clearly saw a shape standing in the dim light. She stood for just a second, considering what to do until she again heard a distinct whimper from within. Putting aside restraint, Sam rushed in, grabbed the man, and pulled him backward. Startled, the man fell on the floor, his face finally illuminated by the overhead light. Sam ignored him as she rushed forward to Ally’s assistance. The girl was face down on the cot with duct tape covering her mouth. Her hands were tied behind her back, and most significantly, both her shorts and panties were down around her knees. Sam grabbed Ally and turned her over, so she saw the girl’s tear-covered face.

“It’s okay. I’m here. Let me get this off of you,” she said as she pulled the duct tape from the girl’s mouth.

“Watch out!” Ally yelled.

Sam looked up just in time to see the large man’s fist as it slammed into her face. The punch knocked her from Ally’s side and onto the hard, concrete floor.

“You little bitch. What the hell you doin’ here?” The man grabbed Sam and pulled her onto her feet. “Where’s Artie, huh?” He shook Sam and then shoved her against the metal mesh of the cage. He started to advance on her again, but what he saw so unnerved him that he slowed his approach. Sam was laughing. Not a boisterous laugh. More like a chuckle from someone who knows an inside joke.

“Huh? What the hell is so funny?” The man was annoyed and perplexed with her reaction. He wanted fear not ridicule.

Sam just continued to laugh, stopping only to spit fresh blood from her mouth onto the floor. “What’s so funny? You are! You hit like a girl,” Sam said. “Ya wanna know a secret? I don’t.” Her right hand shot out in a perfect arc, its fist landing solidly on the man’s left cheek. It was followed by her left fist, landing a punch to his right cheek. Fueled by muscles hardened from years of toil on the farm’s fields, the one-two punch dropped the man to his knees. As he struggled to get back up, Sam unleashed a vicious kick to the face, and he collapsed onto the floor.

With the man down, Sam secured his hands and feet, using the same duct tape he used on Ally, and then turned to help the girl. She quickly removed the tape on Ally’s hands and helped her retrieve and put back on her clothes. Even while she dressed, Ally continued to sob uncontrollably.

“I’m so sorry, Ally!” Sam said as she pulled Ally closer and tried to comfort the sobbing girl. “That shouldna’ happened! Not to you. Not to no one!”

So much emotion flowed through Ally that her responses came in short, staccato phrases. “Told him no…but…but…but…he…he…hit me. Shhh—shoved me down…and…and…” She collapsed into full sobs, incapable of saying more.

“I know, honey. I know. This guy ain’t worth spit! Don’t deserve to live!” Even while she comforted the girl, Sam’s mind was working in overdrive.

Need to find out what happened while I was out, she thought. Where’s Brandon? Where’s my dog? Hell, I need to git my stuff, my horse, and git out of here. Ain’t no way I’m gonna let no more happen to this girl! No sir, no way!

She comforting the girl until the sobs finally abated enough that Sam thought she could get some answers. “Ally, honey. While I was knocked out…what happened to Brandon?”

“Um.” Sniff. “They took him. They locked us both up—both him and me. I didn’t do nothing. I told them, but they still locked me up. Then…Priestly came and talked to Brandon…and then they took him and left.”

“He go willingly? Or’d they make him go?”

“He didn’t want to go until he and Priestly talked. I couldn’t hear them, but I saw Priestly keep pointing at me, and then Brandon left.”

Sam could read between the lines. They had clearly coerced Brandon with threats to Ally. “Where’d they go?

“I don’t know. I think everyone went.”

This had to be Priestly’s plan. The one Brandon had talked ‘bout with the…what was it called—the substation? Hmmm, I gotta find out more. First things first.

“Ally, what did they do with my dog?”

“I don’t know. One of the men took her.”

Time to get some answers!

Sam locked the cage gate on the large, obnoxious, and now unconscious man, and then retrieved the still unconscious smaller man. She dragged him by his feet into one of the other cages. With both men locked up, Sam found The Club’s armory. This time, not willing to wait for a key, she simply kicked the door open. Sure enough, inside she quickly found her gun belt, guns, and even her saddlebags—which to her pleasant surprise still contained the antibiotics. Everything, that is, but Bailey. While she repacked her saddlebags, her mind was turning. Ally sensed this.

“What are you thinking, Sam?”

“That we need to find my dog…and yer brother.” Her initial reaction was that after retrieving her dog, she should just head back for the farm. After all, this wasn’t her world, and she wasn’t responsible for these people. Though, she kept coming back to the same conclusion. For good or ill, she was involved with these people and couldn’t just ride away. She couldn’t leave Ally…nor could she leave Brandon. She was invested in these people and their safety. With both her decision made and her guns and knife returned to her waist, Sam went back to the cages, with Ally trailing her like a shadow. It was time to get some answers from the men.

* * * *

“Wake up,” Sam said as she dumped water on the smaller man’s face. “Rise and shine, buttercup.” She had chosen the smaller man for a very direct reason. She was sure she could intimidate him. Shocked into consciousness by the water, the man’s eyes opened. After a few seconds, Sam helped him to sit up.

“There you go. Welcome back.” The man winced from the pain in his head. “That hurts, I know. It’ll git better. So, tell ya what. You help us out, and we’ll go find somethin’ for that pain. Okay?”

“Um…yeah. Yeah…okay.”

“Good answer. Now, I got an important question for ya. Where’s my dog?” Sam looked at him, but the sympathy she allowed in her eyes when he awoke was replaced with a glare of cold steel.

“Your dog?” he asked. “I never saw it, but Steve…the other guy. He said something about it.”

“I see. Hope you’re tellin’ the truth, cuz I’ll go talk to him next.” She gave him a reassuring smile, and then continued her questioning. “Kinda quiet round here. So…where’d everybody go?”

“With Priestly, down to the Strip. They left a few hours ago.”

“What about my brother?” Ally interjected. “Where’s Brandon?”

“They took him, too,” he replied. The man kept wincing when anyone spoke. Each sound was amplified by the pounding in his head.

“He go willingly?” Sam asked. “Or did they make him go?

“Well…Priestly was pretty pissed with him for helping you escape. Man…they argued for some time. Priestly wasn’t taking any shit from anybody, particularly from Brandon or any of his friends. He insisted that everybody roll out for the plan.”

“You know ‘bout this plan? The details?”

“About which plan?”

“What?” Sam was truly confused. What is he talking about? “Are there two plans?”

“Um…yeah. One plan is the substation reset on the Strip. The other…well, it was a surprise…at least to me.”

“Maybe you better tell us ‘bout it.”

“It…uh…well…it involves the both of you.”

You could have heard a pin drop. Ally spoke first. “What? A ‘plan’…about me? And Sam? What are you talking about?”

“After you showed up yesterday, Priestly gathered a bunch of us together and told us that if we supported him and the substation project, he would throw in the two of you.”

“To do…what?” Sam asked, her voice rising in anger.

“Look. This wasn’t my idea, so don’t get pissed with me, okay?” He couldn’t read anything from Sam’s icy stare. “He said, we’d all get to have…a go…with the two of you. I don’t know. Whatever you want to call it.”

“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” Real anger flared within Sam. “Sex? With us?”

“Well, ah yeah…but more than that. He wants to restore society, complete with new houses for each of us to live in. That’s where you two came in—as wives. Kinda reverse Mormons—one wife with many husbands. Um…I think he was also gonna send men to go get your sister and mother to have some more women for the men to…ah…choose from. Um…he also wanted you all to have a lot of babies.”

It was hard to tell who was more angry—Sam or Ally. Nothing prepared them for what they had just heard. A future of indentured sex and breeding. A future where the woman’s only purpose was to fulfill Priestly’s vision of home and hearth, all for his renewal of society. Only one word described their plan—horrible.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” the man continued. “You got to understand. It was very appealing to us. I mean, it’s been sooooo long since any of us had any…um, companionship, let alone a home and kids. The way he pitched it, everyone was onboard.”

“Mister, I think you better just hold your tongue. I’ve heard enough. C’mon, Ally. Let’s go find my dog.”

* * * *

After the disgusting turn of the first man’s questioning, the last thing Sam wanted was to do was talk to the large man. Unfortunately, she knew it needed to be done. Considering what he’d done to Ally, Sam wasn’t sure she wanted her in the same area as the man—for her safety and for his.

“Hey, why don’t ya let me wrestle with this bull? You could go get some supplies for us. Whadda ya say?”

“You don’t want me around?” Ally’s eyes were windows to her emotions. At this moment, even such a simple request brought her to the edge of tears. It was clear that no matter what, Ally wanted to stay together. Finally, Sam gave in.

“’Course I want ya ‘round. Okay, c’mon with me, and let’s go git ‘em.”

The girls entered the cage where they left the large man. He was conscious now and on his side, struggling mightily to free his hands.

“Hey there! I’ll give you the same deal as the other fellow. Answer my questions, and I’ll get you some water. So, whadda ya say?”

“Go to hell. I ain’t telling you nothing.”

“You may want ta think twice ‘bout that. Ya see…everybody’s gone, so nobody’s here to help you out. So, let’s cut right to the chase. Where’s my dog?”

“Go to hell.”

“Wrong answer. I think you can do better. That’s one, and I’m only gonna ask one more time.” Sam drew her knife from her belt. With its large blade, the knife itself was intimidating, but even more so in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. Confident in her ability, Sam moved to where she could look the large man directly in the eyes.

“You a hunter?” Sam asked the man who shook his head in response.

“I’ve brought down a few deer, rabbits, and such. Good table food, but once you bring ‘em down, ya got to prepare ‘em. You got to use a knife like this to gut ‘em—remove all their innards. You see, ya take the knife and cut down the center of the body—here, here, and here.” Sam showed where she would cut, using the man’s own body for her demonstration. Not actually hurting the man, she brought the blade within a hair’s width of cutting through skin on the man’s chest and abdomen. Her movements were well practiced, and the effect her demonstration was very intimidating. Unfortunately, it still didn’t evoke the response Sam wanted as the man remained silent. It was time to turn up the heat.

“If ya cut ‘em right, their innards will start tumbling out, but ya gotta help it along. Ya gotta take the knife and dig in to loosen up the organs, then pull ‘em out.” Again, she pantomimed the movement of using her knife and pretended to pull organs out. “Finally, after you cleaned out the organs, ya gotta skin it. With cuts at the neck here, and cuts at the front and rear legs, you start pullin’ back the skin, rollin’ it from the center to the outside.”

Sam paused, taking in the developing fear within the man’s eyes. “So, that’s it. Now, ya know.” She held the knife just over the man’s face, letting the overhead light glint off the knife’s long blade. “I gotta admit. Sometimes, at first, it turned my stomach…seein’ all that blood a-flowin’. Particularly when you’re guttin’ the innards of an animal. By now, I’ve seen lots of blood, so it don’t really bother me none.”

The man was beginning shake as he stared up at the silver blade. He wasn’t looking at Sam, Ally, or anything else but the knife. To him, the knife seemed huge. He saw how the light changed as it transitioned from the dull, metal side to the sharpened edge. Adding to that, with every word spoken, the knife seemed to grow, appearing even more menacing.

Sam saw that it was time to ‘finish him off’, so to speak. “So…there it is. That’s how you do it. It all starts with the knife. It all starts with a single cut.” Her voice hardened to her coldest, deadliest tone. “Now…tell me where my dog is, or I swear…I truly swear, I’ll gut you like a lame deer and let you bleed out right where you lie.” To punctuate her words, Sam thrust the knife right up against his neck. The tip of the blade pressed so hard that the man was sure it had broken through the skin. Under the intimidation of the knife, lying was out of the question.

“I…I…I…took it out back….threw the bag into the dumpster.” The man was shaking as he spoke.

Sam turned and looked over her shoulder to Ally. What she saw worried her. The girl’s eyes were fixed on the man in a frightening stare of pure hate.

I don’t like that look on her, she thought. Damn, I gotta get her out of here and away from this guy.

“You know where that dumpster is?” Sam asked but got no response. Ally’s gaze remained fixed on the man. “Ally! Ally! You know where he’s talking ‘bout?”

Finally the girl tore her gaze away from the man and responded. “Um…yeah. Yeah, I know where it is.”

“Good! Go find my dog. Find ‘er and bring ‘er back.” Ally gave the man one more look and then left the room. With Ally gone, Sam turned back to the man and continued to dig the knife’s tip into the man’s neck. “You better start prayin’ to whatever god you choose that my dog is okay. Cuz if she’s not…well. You better pray she is.”

The minutes ticked by slowly as Sam awaited Bailey’s fate. Her heart told her that the dog would be okay, but her head said otherwise.

If I lost my dog, I just don’t know what I’ll do!

Finally, she heard footsteps approaching.

“Sam, someone really wants to see you,” Ally said.

Her dog was okay! Sam closed her eyes and thanked the Lord for small miracles, including returning a beloved dog to her owner.

“Hey there, girl! There you are!”

The dog’s tail swept back and forth through the air. After being returned to her owner’s arms, the dog showered Sam’s face with affectionate licks—the kind of reaction a dog saves only for someone special.

Sam was so distracted in the special moment with her dog that she didn’t even feel the hand that drew her pistol from its holster. Only as she looked up did she see the gun leveled at the large man. It was Ally. She’d swiped the gun and now pointed it at the man’s head.

“Ally, that’s a cliff’s edge you’re starin’ at.” She spoke softly but with the control and intensity of someone who knows what they’re talking about. “You step over that edge, well…there’s no going back. It’s just a trip straight down.”

Sam put down her dog and inched closer to Ally. She was only a few feet away.

“This guy ain’t worth spit. He’s nothin’, but if you pull that trigger, you’ll be no better than him. Even though I only just met you yesterday, I know…I just know that you’re a better person than that.”

Tears poured down Ally’s face, but still she pointed the gun at the man. “Sam…he tried to rape me, and he would’ve succeeded if you hadn’t come back. I thought these guys were my friends, but all they wanted was to screw me. This guy…this shit. He dragged me in here…” Ally’s voice began to quiver. “He forced me down…and…and…and pulled down…”

Sam was finally within an arm’s length of the girl.

“Like I said, he ain’t worth spit, but you’re better than that. You’re better than him. So, be better than him, okay?”

Sam reached out and slowly pressed down on Ally’s outstretch arm, lowering the gun. When it was finally pointed at the floor, Sam gently grabbed it and returned the gun to her holster. As she did, Ally thrust herself into Sam’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

With Bailey under one arm and Ally in the other, Sam left the cages and the men they still contained. As she left, she briefly considered the word “cage”.

A metal pen for holdin’ wild animals, she thought. That’s just ‘bout right, that is. For these men, a cage is just what they need.

She smiled to herself as she walked away from the cages.

“Whaddya say, Ally?” Sam asked. “How ‘bout we go find your brother?”